This stone mosque is near our house, closer to our old apartment than our new one. I believe this is the place that broadcasts the daily neighborhood calls to prayer.
One thing we’ve noticed about some Islam worshippers in Senegal is that religion seems to play a slightly more important role when it comes to aspirations and pre-destination. There’s less of a sense of “God helps those who help themselves” and more of a reliance on God to give gifts of wealth and prosperity if he sees fit to do so. That might account for the Senegalese complacency with subsisting on very little – if money and food haven’t been bestowed upon you, it’s simply because God hasn’t chosen to give you those gifts.
I suppose this line of thinking could be viewed as either good or bad. On one hand, it’s nice to see a dampened sense of materialism and a greater sense of satisfaction with the lot one’s been handed in life. On the other, there’s seemingly little motivation to better oneself through hard work or education, since any success is viewed as dependent upon the will of God rather than one’s own ambitions.
Rachael Cullins is a twentysomething American girl living in Dakar, Senegal, with her husband and two dogs. She blogs about her adventures in Senegal and travels elsewhere in West Africa. She will reside in Dakar until summer 2013, when she and her family will move to another foreign post as part of her husband’s career with the U.S. government. In addition to West Africa, she has traveled to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Costa Rica and plans to continually add to that list.
