I have no qualification to speak about happiness at all. Afterall, I am a tall, white, educated, male. I ostensibly belong to one of the larger religions. There are few obstacles in my path that are not self-inflicted.
Sorry Denmark, but, for the moment, you have to suffer the slight of stereotypes about your northern extremes and fears that your population is still suffering from near-frostbite temperatures. That your rivers are frozen over and most of your population get to work via skidoo.
The night before we left Senegal, we had a thank-you dinner for the volunteers who had been instrumental to the success of the event - and we had it at Haidar El Aliss Oceanium location - a couple of thousand hectares right on the Senegalese coastline and just down the hill from the presidential palace. Now, as I walk into my home in Brussels, the phone is vibrating with the news - Haidar is Senegal's Minister of the Environment.
Yesterday afternoon, we managed to slip over the the Ville des Artistes in Dakar. They understand tourism - you are invited in and asked to take photos and talk to the artisans. Yesterday morning, I also went out to take photos where the fishing boats arrive. Here I was, in my shorts, Calvin and Hobbes t-shirt, a pair of crocs about to take photos of some of the poorest people I would encounter on this trip - and suddenly my entire photographic venture smacked of tourist poverty/poverty voyeurism.
Submitted by bossin.philippe on Mon, 2012-04-02 18:35
We would like to extend a huge thank you to all our sponsors. Without your help, none of the great things we have accomplished these last few days would have been possible.
There are some small ideas here in Senegal that I want to remember to get online. And every time I am in a "safe" taxi, we pass one of these local buses, and I remember I should get a photo. These are the mass transport machines for Dakar and they are always, always, always full.
Joline and I have, literally, thousands of images from the Congress that we have to cull and then post so everyone can get access to the pics. But we will also be asking for help in tagging faces, adding names, helping us create some decent captions.
Neither I nor any of my friends were injured in creating this blog entry - but it was not for lack of opportunity. Now, the state of Dakar taxis has already been mentioned in this blog, so it was not as if we had no idea what to expect when we were swept up by a driver and herded off to his yellow and black tin box. And it was not that surprising that the doors creaked and moaned as we got inside. However it was disconcerting when the driver got in and his door fell off the hinges and dangled off the side of the car frame. It had to be hoisted back up, the grooves found and then the door slammed shut. And then we sat there, motionless. ... Perhaps we should have been suspicious when he had to persuade a few locals to push the car until the engine turned over and he could drive under his own power.
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Sorry Denmark, but, for the moment, you have to suffer the slight of stereotypes about your northern extremes and fears that your population is still suffering from near-frostbite temperatures. That your rivers are frozen over and most of your population get to work via skidoo.
The night before we left Senegal, we had a thank-you dinner for the volunteers who had been instrumental to the success of the event - and we had it at Haidar El Aliss Oceanium location - a couple of thousand hectares right on the Senegalese coastline and just down the hill from the presidential palace. Now, as I walk into my home in Brussels, the phone is vibrating with the news - Haidar is Senegal's Minister of the Environment.
Yesterday afternoon, we managed to slip over the the Ville des Artistes in Dakar. They understand tourism - you are invited in and asked to take photos and talk to the artisans. Yesterday morning, I also went out to take photos where the fishing boats arrive. Here I was, in my shorts, Calvin and Hobbes t-shirt, a pair of crocs about to take photos of some of the poorest people I would encounter on this trip - and suddenly my entire photographic venture smacked of tourist poverty/poverty voyeurism. 
Joline and I have, literally, thousands of images from the Congress that we have to cull and then post so everyone can get access to the pics. But we will also be asking for help in tagging faces, adding names, helping us create some decent captions.
Neither I nor any of my friends were injured in creating this blog entry - but it was not for lack of opportunity. Now, the state of Dakar taxis has already been mentioned in this blog, so it was not as if we had no idea what to expect when we were swept up by a driver and herded off to his yellow and black tin box. And it was not that surprising that the doors creaked and moaned as we got inside. However it was disconcerting when the driver got in and his door fell off the hinges and dangled off the side of the car frame. It had to be hoisted back up, the grooves found and then the door slammed shut. And then we sat there, motionless. ... Perhaps we should have been suspicious when he had to persuade a few locals to push the car until the engine turned over and he could drive under his own power.