One for all, all for one

Little country knowledge: 'la Familie elastique' means here in Senegal. That means that anyone you like belongs to your family. Everything is shared with everyone from A like Ataya (concentrated green tea with lots of sugar) to M like Motorbike and Z like Room.

To be honest: this time I had a pretty hard time with this system. I, as a woman socialized in Germany and dedicated to individualism. Even the children repeatedly reach their limits of acceptance of constant visitors, sharing and eating with people who just pass by. Just for better understanding: since our arrival, Fams and I have been buying bags of staple foods and then supplementing with daily necessities. In the morning, just after clearing the breakfast table, the brother comes by and of course helps himself in the already cleaned kitchen. Shortly afterwards his wife. Great, the saved bread for the children is eaten. 😋

Extra food is cooked for lunch, who knows who else will show up... If it's not the children's group from the family, nieces or cousins come to visit. You don't send them away for food, but prepare an extra plate. When everything is cleared away, someone else comes from the beach, right into the kitchen, helps themselves, eats, and leaves. Uninvited of course, because 'that's just how it is here'. In the evening it's similar.

If you come home from work and want some peace and quiet, you would hurt people because you would have to send them home. There's always someone here.

The flip side is, on the other hand, very very nice. The community. The sharing of tasks. Or the call: I think someone is out there (when I was alone in the house putting Mina to bed) and suddenly the whole team is there, has divided up, armed with sticks, to chase away a cow that rustled in front of the terrace. 🤣

This is Abéné, a village. Everyone knows everyone and you know exactly what everyone does and can do. You can call someone to bring you bananas from the village to the beach or to build the climbing frame for the kindergarten.