I had one of the most strange and Senegalese days, that it simply has to be shared. If I haven’t already said it already, I am towards the end of the month of independent research of our program. This is the month where each of chose a subject to research, and we are given a budget and free time from classes to conduct our research in whatever way we chose. By the end we should have the equivalent of a 20-40 paper explaining what we did and our results, and we also have to do a final presentation to defend our research.
I have been researching the musical education system in Senegal, which has included observing classes, talking to professors, students and musicians and observing attitudes towards music in general. Now that you have the background information, you can understand why I may have ended up at the ferry dock to Gorée Island at 7am. From my constant appearance at the National School of the Arts (the national conservatory, and from my knowledge the only music school in the country) I had made a contact with a professor who teaches at an all girls boarding school on the island. This school is the best school for girls in Senegal, as it selectively takes the top 3 girls from each region of the country as students (There is a national test that is administered after the 5th grade, and based on these results the selections are made).
Upon arrival at the school I was shown around the campus and introduced to the director, all the usual formalities. The class started at 8am, but nothing in Senegal starts right on time, so we (myself and the professor) arrived “on time” at 8:15am in the classroom. The students all stood up and greeted the professor, and I was offered a seat in the back of the classroom to observe. The class was interesting to me in the way that music was taught mostly by learning the theory. Because there are not a lot of resources or even a suitable budget for music (those in the US who study or have any experience with the musical education system, be grateful for what you DO have!), the professor has to make do by simply teaching the theory of music.
What I mean by that is that there is a very large nation wide shortage of instruments, so the only ones that are moderately accessible for people to study with are the recorder and guitar. Keyboards are hard to find and expensive, pianos are an enormous luxury, even the traditional instruments are hard to find. The shortage of instruments coupled with the very low priority that the government puts on musical education ( the government funds most of the schools) makes a very poor situation for any sort of musical education. The professors do what they can, but without a classroom or instruments, they are forced to simply teach the theory of music and hope that the students will be inspired enough to continue on in music.
Therefore the class time was divided in half, one was written on the chalkboard, and the other was practicing with the recorders. Each student was instructed to bring their own recorder, but only a handful had their own, so everyone passed them around. The girls seemed so enchanted and exhilarated by the fact that they were making their own music, that by the end of the class they didn’t want to stop, so they began singing a song that the professor had taught them.
He brought out his guitar, and they all continued to sing together until the next class had to start. After the class I literally ran and jumped to make the boat back to the mainland (I did do a running jump onto the boat because it had already started to pull away when I caught sight of it, and there was no way I was waiting for the next one!). As the boat pulled away and I regained my composure, I realized that I had just the most wonderful experience, and it was only noon!
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