summer in Thies

big news: I'm staying in Senegal for ten more weeks.
unfortunately it doesn't fit in my budget to fly home for graduation (sorry to all my senior friends!) or to see the fam but I've found a great internship and am really excited for a whole new experience in Senegal.

I'll be working with MissionInter Senegal (MIS) a nondenominational private Senegalese organization that works in development and evangelism. I will be working at Hopital Barthimee in the lab - hematology, parasistology, and bacteriology. So fun right! I'll be learning the techniques to test for diseases here like sickle cell anemia, malaria and parasites. At the same time I'll be doing research on the epidemiology of these diseases in Senegal. But don't worry I won't spend all my time in the lab-- I'll also be able to accompany a mobile medical team to a rural village and visit daaras in Thies to raise medical awareness.  I'll be living with a new host family -- either French missionaries or a Senegalese family -- yet to be determined. A big thanks to DePauw for the Howes Grant which is financing this endeavor. Bigger thanks to God for leading me through the whole stressful process and opening doors.

From what my guidebook and Senegalese friends have told me, Thies is like a mini Dakar. There are still places to see some live music and a big tapestry museum(?) and of course markets. I'll definitely miss the beach and it will be a new experience to be away from the other 50 american students that are in this program. I'll also be leading research myself. I'm looking forward to going to one church over the summer -- I've tried many different churches since being in Senegal which has been a great experience but I miss having fellowship within one church community. Also looking forward to the chance to see how this branch of a Senegalese church works in terms of development and evangelism. Senegal is 90% Muslim so churches like this are rare. If you want to see more visit the website : http://www.missionintersenegal.org/